YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. A trilateral memorandum on the development of skills of Armenian state officials and an exchange of experience was signed among the RA Ministry of Economy, the RA Civil Service Council, and the Armenian Office of the British Council on November 17. The Skills for European Integration program makes part of the British Council's EU Skills Project. The memorandum was signed by RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsian, Chairman of the RA Civil Service Council Manvel Badalian, and Director of the Armenian Office of the British Council Ms. Arevik Saribekian. The three-year EU Skills Project funded by the British government was launched in the South Caucasus in 2009 and aims to improve the skills of state officials involved in the European integration process and to promote an exchange of experience. Pointing out the importance of the program, N. Yeritsian said that certain mechanisms have been proposed with the aim of training state officials by enabling them to gain experience in other countries and participating in regional conferences. M. Badalian thanked the British Council for cooperation, noting that all institutions of the government take interest in this process. In the words of A. Saribekian, the assistance of the Armenian government in the person of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan is the main pledge of the program's successful implementation. The British Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale said this process constitutes a major part of the UK's assistance program and it is of benefit to both Armenia and the European Union, adding that they hope that with the support of the civil service, a staff to be able to work efficiently with the EU will be formed.

---